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Pay Per Click Marketing: How It Works in a Nutshell

Pay per click (PPC) advertisements are usually seen in the search results pages separated from the regular results. These are advertisements placed there to entice people to visit their websites and possibly make a sale.

The advertisers that place those ads will pay the search engines a certain amount for each click that the ad brings that takes a consumer to their website. If they meet the formula that the pay per click search engine has compiled for top ads, they can find their ads on the first page of the search results where Internet searchers are more likely to see them and click on them.

PPC marketing enables a website owner to increase their traffic pretty quickly. It can be an effective means of selling more products or building a list with the increase in website exposure.

When a consumer is searching for a topic and they put the keyword or phrase related to that topic in the search box, they’ll see a page of results that include sponsor ads, organic results, and the pay per click ads on the right side of the screen (in Google AdWords).

The higher the ad is placed on that page, the greater the chances of getting people to visit the website. Google and other PPC search hubs have formulas to determine what ads get top placement – it’s not all about who bids the most for the keywords.

Getting the visitor to click through to the website means you have to capture their attention and pull them away from your competition’s ads. While many PPC marketing campaigns are successful, there are that many that end up losing money.

This can be due to a number of reasons. The ad might not clearly convey what the landing page is all about, causing tire kickers to click through just to see. Or, your ad might be deceptive and the landing page not convincing enough to cause a buyer to make a purchase.

The advertiser pays for every click that’s made from the ad. If a thousand people click on the ad, but don’t buy anything, then they’re still faced with paying the search engines for having their ads on the search results page. That’s why it’s critical that you monitor your campaigns.

The more successful PPC marketers are the ones who know how to get the traffic to their site and how to entice sales from them. Those marketers enjoy a high ROI (return on their investment).

PPC marketing enables you to test how successful an ad is and gives you the opportunity to pull it if necessary to replace it with a better one or to keep the same ad and tweak it to optimal performance.